Author's Note: I'm updating this now because I'll e out of town for the weekend and won't be updating again until Sunday. It's a short chapter so I don't think it will exactly tide anyone over, but I'm hoping you still like it and still have plenty of feedback for me. I can't get enough of this story, and I hope y'all feel the same. To those of you reading and reviewing, a million thank yous. I don't drink or smoke or any of that, so your feedback is seriously my drug. And I'm hooked, so keep it coming. (;oP
Puck leaned his shoulder against the flat surface of the wall, the hand of the same arm loosely holding the rim a red plastic cup full of some really gross beer. There was this large punch bowl of mystery juice that everyone seemed to be enjoying more than the keg, but the concoction was bright pink and Puck was too much of a guy's guy to walk around drinking that. His girlfriend, on the other hand, had been sipping the beverage through a coffee stirrer happily, claiming it tasted like pink.
His girlfriend.
It was hard to believe how much had changed so quickly. This morning at school she was still sort of avoiding him and he'd crapped out later that afternoon. But now, hours later, they were together. Well, he was standing by the beer pong table and she was in the living room next to Mercedes and Tina as they watched some people play a drinking game from some stupid TV show. But, romantically speaking, they were together.
Rachel looked away from the television suddenly, the feel of Noah's gaze on her as tangible as the red plastic cup clutched in her two hands. She moved her lips to encircle the tip of the makeshift straw, her eyes peeking down to the fruity liquid before she looked back up over the rim. He was standing next to a wall on the other side of the room, his body leaning against it enough that she knew he was buzzed but not drunk. When he pushed off and began his pursuit toward her, she couldn't help but smile at how the alcohol made his already lazy swagger even more sloth-like.
"Hey, babe?" Puck plopped down on the couch beside her, paying little regard to Tina and how he'd almost sat on her. Luckily the Asian girl was laughing too hard at something Mercedes had said to really notice. "Wanna share?"
"You have your own drink."
"It sucks." He looked down into her cup. "I want to taste yours."
She giggled, wondering if he knew he was pouting. "Well, I suppose I wouldn't be a very good girlfriend if I didn't share my drink with my boyfriend."
"I don't want your drink." Puck pushed her cup away from his face as she was presenting it to him, Rachel furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "I said I want a taste." His lips crashed into hers, his right hand coming up to her face. He used his thumb to tilt her chin up, the other four fingers curling softly over her neck. He nipped at her bottom lip, sucking on the pouty flesh before slipping his tongue inside the moist cavern of her mouth. Then he ran the tender flesh over the roof of her mouth, swirling around her own tongue before pulling back appreciatively. "Mmmmmm."
It wasn't even a word let alone a sentence, but it shot through Rachel faster and stronger than she ever thought possible. Her breath was unsteady, her hands poised on his shoulders. At the initial contact, she had planned on pushing him away. They were in the middle of a crowded area – Puck was now leaning heavily on her instead of basically sitting on Tina, but still – and Rachel wasn't exactly comfortable with gratuitous displays of affection. But the second after the first second, it was like all the wires in her brain sending the signals to her hands to push him away were fried. It took everything in her not to pull him closer.
"You're right." He grinned, licking his lips. "It does taste like pink."
Rachel heard his voice, knew he was looking at her, but she couldn't take her eyes off his lips. There was a sheen of light glistening off where he'd just moistened, the thin lip looking so smooth and perfect right then. His upper lip was even thinner, almost untraceable if the corners hadn't been turned up into a sly grin. There was mischief all over his expression, though the only thing Rachel could think was that it was criminal he looked that good.
"There's probably an empty room around here we could go into," Puck's eyes shifted down, stopping at her lips for a brief moment before lowering even further. It had taken a little convincing on his part, but he'd actually managed to get her out of her house not wearing an animal sweater. Instead, she was wearing a dress that was very similar to the one she'd wore during their duet – in that Puck saw that it, too, was cut low enough that he could almost see some boob.
"I haven't had that much to drink, Noah." Rachel rolled her eyes, desperate for an excuse to change the subject. "And while maybe Tina has and therefore she has not noticed, you are basically squashing her. If you'll recall, she was injured during the game and adding your drunken weight to her tiny frame might not be beneficial to the healing process."
"I knew she got hurt." Puck looked over his shoulder at Tina. "You didn't get any blood on the jersey, right? Because that shit comes out of the budget for next year's loot."
"Real sensitive, Noah." Rachel sighed, excusing herself to use the restroom. Mercedes and Tina giddily decided to join her, as if there were a public restroom that could accommodate all three girls at the same time. Considering the amount of people there, how long the party had been going on, and the average amount of bathrooms in these sized homes, Puck figured the girls would be waiting in line for awhile.
"Denied!" One of the football players, Tommy, announced loudly, taking the seat previously occupied by Mercedes while four other teammates followed. Puck adjusted his position on the couch, lounging back casually while looking over at Tommy. "That was cold, dude."
"You got cockblocked by your own girl."
"And Rachel Berry, at that," Kody grinned devilishly, having a bit more insight into the Puck/Rachel dynamic thanks to his involvement in the glee club this week and the years of bullying he'd done to Rachel. "That's twice now, right?"
"Shut your mouth, fat ass," Puck growled, tipping Rachel's drink back and swallowing the remaining liquid in one gulp. There was no mystery there was vodka in there, but that shit was strong. He was suddenly relieved to know Rachel had only had about half of a cup. This was her first party, her first drink, and he'd told himself that he was going to take it easy tonight to keep an eye on her.
"Wow. Someone's sexually frustrated," Tommy chuckled, patting Puck's shoulder sympathetically. "You're wasting your time, Puck. Rachel Berry is closed up tighter than Fort Knox."
"I like a challenge," he muttered, shrugging off Tommy's hand.
"Don't get me wrong. When you seal the deal, I want to know about it." Tommy moaned, his eyes closing for a second as he thought about it. "I bet she's a screamer, you know?"
Puck clenched his jaw, his eyes closing too as he tried to sift through everything racing through his head. The effects of the alcohol seemed to hit him abruptly, his emotions wavering between blindly pissed off to completely apathetic that he managed to stay in a neutral area. Kody and Tommy were going on and on about Rachel hitting high notes and Puck being a living legend after he stole the precious Berry V-card. And while part of him just wanted to throw his fist across both their faces, the other part preferred this type of rousing over dragging his reputation through the mud. It wasn't like he hadn't heard the same thing (and sometimes much worse) in the locker rooms, and he'd much rather be considered a player than a pussy.
"I didn't even get any boob action last time, but I'm already this close." Puck inched his index finger and thumb apart, smiling wickedly as his head rested back against the back couch cushion. "Then we'll see."
"Well let's get it over with." Rachel's curt voice tore through the football players' laughter, her tiny frame squeezing between two of them so she could stand directly in front of Puck. She ignored the immediate flash of guilt she saw pass through his eyes, bending her torso over to lean over him. "Here." She forcefully grabbed one of his hands, placing it on her chest for a second before quickly pushing him away. "Now we don't have to waste another week."
Puck watched her stalk away, pushing through several people just to get to the back door exit. The football players all teased and taunted him as he stood up to follow, but he didn't even care. He knew what he did was wrong, and the worst part was that it was exactly what she had been worried about. He'd done exactly what Finn did, picking his reputation over her. As if his reputation was so great.
"Go away, Puck," she spat, standing off to the side of the back porch. It was nearly pitch black outside, and the way she caved into herself made it nearly impossible to see her. But he could hear the pain in her voice (and the anger – she'd never called him Puck. Ever.) and he couldn't leave.
"Three hours," he said after doing the math in his head. They'd left the game around 9 and it was just past midnight now. "That's a new record for me."
Rachel bit back her tears, turning so she could see his face even though she knew he was still having trouble seeing hers. "This isn't going to work. We can't even go one evening without getting into a fight."
Maybe it was what she said, or maybe it was how she said it, but Puck couldn't have moved to her fast enough. His steps were desperate, his voice pleading. "We're going to fight." He didn't dare to reach out to touch her, even though he could feel the heat radiating off her body. "You're bat-shit crazy and I'm an asshole. It's just bound to happen."
Rachel huffed out a breath, taking a step back from him and shivering in response. She'd come outside without her coat and it was below freezing now. Suddenly she was regretting her independent decision to walk home, knowing she'd probably freeze to death on the mile-plus trek. But anything was better than the feeling she'd had when she heard Puck talking to his teammates. They were being so vile and crude, and Puck should have defended her honor. Rachel would never expect him to declare his undying love for her (especially in front of his friends), but there was a big difference between right and wrong and he'd chosen incorrectly.
"You are an asshole," she pouted, moving to sit on the swing behind them. Puck slowly joined her, still trying to hide his smile that she'd cursed. He knew he wasn't out of the woods yet. "But, I guess it is partially my fault." Puck raised his eyebrows in surprise, certainly not expecting that. "The sexual frustration, I mean."
Rachel sighed, thinking about what Mercedes and Tina had been saying in the restroom. With their inhibitions dropping as their blood alcohol level rose, both the girls' lips loosened and in five minutes Rachel had learned more about the pair than she ever wanted to. But, the most disturbing of all was Mercedes recollection of her time with Puck. They'd only been together for a little more than a week, maybe two, but apparently there was no learning curve when it came to Puck and sex. Mercedes said they never went all the way, but there was a lot of heavy petting and the way she described the power he seemed to have over her … it was eerily similar to what Rachel felt.
"Away from you, I'm fine," she began softly, her eyes focused on her lap. "Away from you I know I'm not ready and it should happen a certain way, after a certain time." Rachel lifted one shoulder in an empty shrug. "But then you're near me and … all I can think about is the sweet things you've said. All I can hear is your voice, smell is you and … it consumes me."
Sue him, his chest puffed out a bit. "Ain't no problem with that, B. It's called attraction," he stated matter-of-factly, wondering if she was impressed to know he actually had learned something in chemistry last year.
"I don't want this to just be attraction." She sighed, biting her lip as she contemplated what she wanted to say. She didn't want to be mean, but there was really no nice way to explain herself. "I don't want this to just be about the chase for you."
Puck's posture immediately stiffened, his gaze hard as he stared at her, willed her to look at him. Her breath caught in her throat at the intensity in his eyes, Rachel sucking in her bottom lip. She instantly felt bad after saying it, even if it had been true, because she knew it would hurt him. She could almost hear his guard being put back up – it was easy to recognize a wall when she had so many of her own – and knew she had to get him talking before he completely closed off.
"Have you ever … had to wait before?"
Puck was still sort of pissed, but he considered her question. Sometime in the eighth grade he had gotten sick of all the bullshit middle school flirting, and the kissing and teasing just wasn't doing it for him anymore. So one day he decided sex would be pretty cool. He spent the next day convincing Santana it would be awesome (both physically and for their popularity, which was something she'd cared about since moving to Lima in the sixth grade from someplace where she had no friends), and that was it. Aside from that 24-hour span, he could only think of one more.
Quinn.
That wasn't the best example, though, because that had been about the chase. It was about the bad boy claiming stake on the chastity ball cheerleading princess and he'd spent the entire summer before high school and a good portion of ninth grade trying to trick her into sleeping with him. And then she picked Finn and it became an even more exciting game. It was about luring her away from Mr. Perfect, about finally doing something better than the great Finn Hudson.
"After babygate, with Quinn," he finally answered, his voice low. "She didn't really trust me, with good reason." He shrugged softly, now Puck the one who kept his gaze down. "We tried to make it work, be a real couple with the feelings and everything, but it just … wasn't real."
Puck swallowed thickly, his mind traveling back to a time he'd put a lot of work into forgetting. They'd had sex a few times during the pregnancy, and they'd both tried to convince the other that their love was true, but you can't bullshit a bullshiter. He could see her shattered dreams in her eyes, and she could see the unsettled feeling in his every action. And then Quinn had the baby, and they tried again. They tried to go back to a time before all the mess, but too much had happened. Her pregnancy had changed him, made him want to support her and take responsibility for what they'd done, and it took a long time for him to be able to look at her and not see the small, half-Puck-half-Quinn face of their baby girl.
"Before my dad left, it was always drilled in my head that being a man meant having sex." Rachel blinked hard a few times, surprised to not just hear his voice after so long, but to hear him talking about his father. "But that's not right, you know? Being a man is being strong enough to deal with the consequences of sex."
Rachel smiled sadly, proud that he'd learned such a valuable lesson but sorry he had to learn it in one of the most difficult ways she could imagine. She may had been wrapped up in Finn, but she had known Puck for a long time and she knew when he was hurting. He spent the summer moping around town, and then he started acting out. She knew it would have only been a matter of time, and looking back she was actually glad he had been sent to juvie because it really seemed to set him straight.
"You're a good man, Noah." She lifted her hand off her leg, resting it over his. She exhaled unsteadily, her smile widening when he laced his fingers with hers, squeezing tightly. "The one I want to be with. Just … not yet."
Puck nodded, taking some satisfaction in the thought that Rachel pictured the two of them getting to that point in their relationship. This wasn't about sex for him, and she knew that. If it had been, they would have never stopped when she was trying to get back at Finn. If it had been, he would never open up to her like he just did. But that didn't mean he wasn't relieved to know she was thinking "when" and not "if".
"That's cool," he finally stated, standing up off the swing and extending his hands out toward her to help her up. He needed to shake off the chick flick feel of the evening, otherwise he'd have to start wearing dresses, too. "And, look; your boobs are awesome, but I promise I won't touch them again until you tell me it's cool."
Rachel laughed out loud, shaking her head before resting it on his shoulder, letting him guide them around the house and back toward his truck. Their serious conversation had quickly sobered both of them up so they didn't bother saying goodbye to anyone. The truck's spot on the side of road allowed them come and go as they pleased since they weren't boxed in like those that had parked in the driveway.
Puck opened the door for her, holding his hand out to assist her in hopping inside, and watching appreciatively from behind as she struggled to get up into the seat. "But perhaps on the drive home we can negotiate some ass time."